The power of biblical doctrine

Having said what I said [in an email, talking about how whole works of theology are not necessarily the best way to get biblical doctrine, i.e. you get it from a thousand different sources], there is real power in apostolic biblical doctrine, and in theologians who express it in an on-the-mark way.

Take sola Scriptura. That is the biblical teaching to fear God and not man. Fear/revere God alone, not the word or opinions or authority of man. That is foundational and powerful.

Sola fide. Justification by faith alone. That means don't rely on your own works to save yourself. That is vain. Don't self-justify yourself. In the big sense as well as in the all the little acts we engage in self-justification.

Christ alone. One Mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ. This keeps us out of the bondage to the General Law, the system of the Beast.

Grace alone. Sola gratia. This has to do with seeing God's will vs. self-will. Real will vs. self-will. When we realize we have nothing and could not have awakened to truth except via God's grace alone we start to see our own so-called 'freedom' for what it is: bondage to the Kingdom of Death. Vanity, worldly pride, rebellious self-will. False personality. Imaginary 'I'.

To the glory of God alone. This is a deep realization. We're created in the image of God, but everything in the plan of God is to glorify God. Since God is infinitely good (and everything else) and infinitely higher than us (I'm rambling on this one I admit) it means when we use the glory of God as our goal and our focus it draws everything upward in a way that makes everything to be in harmony and to be right.

Those are the five solas, and they are the heart of the biblical message.

The five points of Calvinism are called the doctrines of grace, and I describe those as the sort of 'chains' of redemption that when accepted it reorientates us internally from being man-centered to being God-centered.

Then classical Covenant - Federal - Theology is the overall arching Plan of Redemption from eternity to eternity.

All this is powerful and when in understanding is the armor of God itself.

You get it all from classic sources, when you do get it. And it is necessary. Along with the complete readings of the Bible itself.